Serbia coach Radomir Antic decided to cut down his preliminary squad to 24 names (just a player more than the required 23 names) after he had decided the Chelsea duo Slobodan Rajkovic and Nemanja Matic were not good enough to make the final list.
Antic, who side will play Ghana in the group phase of the 2010 World Cup, also excluded striker Miralem Sulejmani (Ajax) and defender Jagos Vukovic (PSV) along with the local duo of Nemanja Tomic (midfield – Partizan) and Dejan Lekic (Attack – Red Star).
Also Valencia ’s Nikola Zigic was retained and even tipped to shine in the finals by his manager. “The coach’s words are not a burden,†Zigic declared. “It’s good that Antic praised me and I will try to justify his confidence. I always give my best for Serbia and it will always be that way.â€
The current 24 candidates of Serbia thus become: Vladimir Stojkovic (Wigan), Zeljko Brkic (Vojvodina), Bojan Isailovic (Zaglebie Lubin), Andjelko Djuricic (Leiria); Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea), Antonio Rukavina (1860 Munich), Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United), Neven Subotic (Borussia Dortmund), Aleksandar Lukovic (Udinese), Ivan Obradovic (Real Zaragoza), Aleksandar Kolarov (Lazio); Dejan Stankovic (Inter Milan), Gojko Kacar (Hertha Berlin), Nenad Milijas (Wolves), Zdravko Kuzmanovic (Stuttgart), Radosav Petrovic (Partizan Belgrade), Milos Krasic (CSKA Moscow), Zoran Tosic (Manchester United), Milos Ninkovic (Dynamo Kiev), Milan Jovanovic (Standard Liege); Nikola Zigic (Valencia), Marko Pantelic (Ajax), Danko Lazovic (Zenit St Petersburg), Dragan Mrdja (Vojvodina).